Daddy

When Daddy died in 1995, we his children put together our fondest recollections of him.

From Marcia, the oldest: “His support for each of his seven children was unique; each of us has a story to tell… and he was always there to pull us together whenever we almost fell apart.”

In countless lighter moments, he was always there, too. He fetched us from school when we had no bus service. Until her college days, Marcia would wait for him even if home was very near, because “I guess I just loved his company.” Likewise, Francis opted to wait for Daddy to fetch him, Eric and Tony from elementary school.

One day, as it was getting late, Eric and Tony decided to walk home while Francis stayed put. The two younger boys had reached University Avenue when a UP Ikot jeep stopped beside them. Daddy, his ride having broken down, had hired the jeep so he could look for them.

Daddy, as an army captain then, would bring the boys with him to Fort Bonifacio whenever he was the duty officer. They partook of fish from the then clean creeks, and fresh vegetables grown by his men. He also took them on certain trips out of town.

For Mariedel, our sixth, it was always Daddy bringing her to the doctor for check-ups. As a young lady, she would at times substitute for Mommy during Daddy’s social functions. In one of these, a young military officer started courting her. Until they got married, Daddy kept a sharp eye on his youngest daughter.

Doy, our youngest, continued to sleep with Daddy and Mommy even when he was already a big boy. One very sweet remembrance I have is seeing all three of them asleep, Doy squeezed between each parent. They had one arm each across his body, while their hands were clasped.

When Doy started working and Daddy was already retired, he would drive his son from our house to Timog Avenue, where the latter took another ride to the Department of Foreign Affairs. He is now ambassador to Bahrain.

Daddy did not prevent his children or our mother, a teacher in UP Diliman, from joining protest actions in those days leading to martial law. As I stepped down the bus from that huge, rain-drenched rally in Caloocan in 1972, Daddy was at the bus stop, anxious and furious, not because I went to the rally but because I took the wrong ride back while my fellow marcher friends had long arrived safely in their homes.

Later, I married an activist who had been imprisoned for almost two years during the martial law era. Daddy fully respected him and what he stood for. Once, when some “comrades” came to visit, he happened to peep into our apartment beside the main house. Sensing the “serious” discussion, he stepped back with his handsome smile and remarked, “hinay-hinay lang, take it easy.”

As he neared his end, despite his semi-conscious state, Daddy responded to Marcia’s recitation of the rosary by his side. And, to her great surprise, he recited the Memorare to the Blessed Mother almost in its entirety.

During the necrological service, Daddy’s colleagues were very generous in their eulogy. Brig. Gen. Simeon B. Ver, a civil engineer, had retired as commander of the 51st Engineering Brigade for Luzon and Visayas, based in Camp Lt. Gen. Rigoberto J. Atienza, Libis, Quezon City. Then Col. Florentino Buenaventura said Daddy upheld unity, solidarity and cooperation in the ranks. Public officials sought his advice; he was readily available to those who sought his help.

Then Col. Nicetas Pareña focused on how Daddy “saw to it that every centavo of Juan dela Cruz should not go to waste… with utmost honesty and frugality… equipment, tools, vehicles were fully used.”

The late Gen. Gerardo dela Cuesta related how then Colonel Ver had led Task Force Bayanihan in constructing 850 schoolhouses to replace those destroyed by Typhoon “Yoling” in 1970, in Ilocos Norte, Cagayan, Isabela, Pampanga, Bulacan, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Albay and Sorsogon. The task force completed its mission well and on time, “to the satisfaction of the fastidious building inspectors of the USAID.” Still, there was enough money left to build decent quarters for the brigade’s men fielded to Northern Luzon.

A relative, Max Edralin, said: “This man had integrity, and this has to be acknowledged, because it is rare in this day and age.”

Ana Celia A. Ver-Papa, 64, is the second child of the late Brig. Gen. Simeon B. Ver.